


Walls and Mirrors

by MelyndaR



Category: Criminal Minds, NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-06 07:25:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3126002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During and after a friendly paintball game between our favorite teams of agents, Declan Doyle, Ian's son, finds a friend in the unsuspecting form of Ziva David while showing off his surprising skill with paintball guns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"On to the game!" NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo declared loudly, standing up from the picnic table.

Declan Doyle rolled his eyes. Why had he let Emily drag him here, to this picnic slash paintball war thing between the BAU and NCIS teams? He wanted to be alone – at home – begrudging the impending loss of Emily to the London Interpol.

Around him, agents from both teams began standing and getting gear and paintball guns ready. Declan stayed to the sidelines as much as possible, watching the proceedings and hoping that everyone would forget he was there.

After deciding to team up themselves, Hotch and Gibbs tallied who was actually going to play before they went aside and began to discuss which people to pair off into teams. After a few minutes of conversation they came back over to the others.

"Okay, as you know, it'll be Agent Hotchner and me on one team…" Agent Gibbs' proclamation was met with shouts at the perceived unfairness.

Hotch continued, "Agents DiNozzo and Morgan will be a team."

The two men high-fived with wide smiles and then went to claim their artillery amidst a few more groans.

Agent Gibbs decreed, "Agent Prentiss and Abby are going to work together."

Declan saw Abby raise her eyebrows as she took in Emily's "normal person" apparel. Oh, if only she knew. Emily smiled as though she were thinking the same thing.

Hotch added, "Agents McGee and Reid are a team."

The two friends headed to choose their gear as Morgan and Agent DiNozzo tried to hide their laughter at their 'competition".

Gibbs continued, "Agent Jareau will be working with Palmer, since no one else wanted to play."

The Israeli, Agent David, called out, "What about me, Gibbs?"

"You're with Declan." Hotch answered.

Declan froze and looked at the female agent before turning to Hotch. "I said I didn't want to play."

"Prentiss said you did." Hotch answered him. "Now go on and get ready."

"But I don't want to play." The fourteen year old was adamant.

"Sorry, you don't have a choice now. Go."

Declan huffed as Hotch walked away. He looked back over at Agent David. She looked to be having a like-minded conversation with her own boss. Maybe there was hope yet.

* * *

Ziva stood in front of Gibbs with her arms crossed over her chest. "He's just a kid, Gibbs! I am not good with kids!"

"Aren't you the one who's mentioned seeing twelve year old soldiers with your own eyes?" Gibbs asked, looking infuriatingly amused.

Ziva felt like stamping her foot. "That is not the same thing!"

"You're right, it's not. This is a friendly game of paintball, nothing more."

"But that doesn't mean I don't want to crush Tony! How do you expect me to do that if he has Agent Morgan and I have to babysit?"

"Look, Ziva, if the kid can shoot; great. If he can't; then just make sure he stays down and doesn't get shot. It's not like you can't cover for yourself and him if it's necessary."

Ziva huffed and looked at the blond boy who was to be her partner. He glared straight back. This was going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ready!" Agent Rossi called out.

"Set!" yelled Ducky.

"GO!" Penelope Garcia screamed.

Ziva grabbed the Irish boy by the hand and pulled him to the left with her as a bloodbath broke out at the tree line of the woods behind them. Three shots per person and that person was out. Which meant that she needed out of there. And they were supposed to stay with their partner. Declan took initiative of his own, pulling away from her and scrambling up a tree trunk into the thick layers of leaves. She hurried after him.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Don't you want to see how many of our opponents will be left?" he asked.

"We need to get farther away!"

"But that's what they'll expect us to do. So we stay put and shoot them as they go under the tree."

Ziva's eyes narrowed. Could this kid actually know what he was talking about? He did have a point though. The tree was a good idea.

"I thought you did not want to play."

Declan shrugged, "If I have to, I might as well do well."

Ziva nodded and looked down in time to see Abby and Palmer go out of the game. Agent Reid went down next. Deprived of their partners, McGee and Agents Prentiss and Jareau turned to flee into the woods. As Agent Jareau passed underneath their perch, Ziva got a shot onto her shoulder.

The blonde whirled around, looking up at the tree. She shot a hastened and badly-aimed pellet harmlessly into the tree trunk. Then a paintball exploded on her chest and she turned ran farther into the woods.

Ziva had given them away, and she didn't dare wait for any of the others to come near their hiding place. Declan looked to her, apparently thinking the same thing. She pointed to the ground beneath her as the four remaining men shot at each other without results. Declan shook his head viciously and grabbed a hold of a branch above him, making a swinging motion.

She arched her eyebrows. He rolled his eyes and swung into a nearby tree, landing with a loud rustle. No one was paying them any attention though, so the noise was harmless. Despite herself, she was impressed. He was good. She carefully followed suit. And so they went, getting faster and slower as they got the hang of it.

Once she felt that they were safely out of anyone's range, Ziva couldn't help whispering, "How did you learn all of this? Video games?"

"Let's just say my dad taught me when I was younger." Declan answered evasively.

Then he put a finger to his lips and pointed to the right. Ziva looked in that direction. McGee was walking slowly along, on high alert. There was a bright red paint stain on his padding. She grinned wickedly and took aim. Declan did the same. They shot at the same time, both hitting their target. He darted for cover. "What the…"

He poked his head up to look at the tree and Ziva shot him in the goggles he wore.

He screamed and yanked them off. "I was already out!"

Ziva and Declan both laughed. Ziva was dying to retort, but with his screaming, they'd given their position away again.


	3. Chapter 3

Again, the duo swung from tree to tree, not an easy task with a paintball gun slung across one's back. They were barely a step ahead of Tony and Agent Morgan, who had come running when they heard McGee screaming. Neither dared stop swinging from tree to tree, as soon as they did the duo on the ground would shoot them down.

After ten straight minutes of this, Tony finally stopped and told Agent Morgan between gasps for breath, "She's a former Mossad officer. They're not going to stop."

"She's got a kid with her! How long can she last?" Agent Morgan asked.

Declan waved her forward, but stopped himself and shot a paintball onto Agent Morgan before hurrying on. Agent Morgan and Tony each shot a handful of paintballs into the tree before they realized it was unoccupied.

Eventually they gave up and headed in search of the other women.  _No one_  wanted to be anywhere near Gibbs, which meant avoiding Agent Hotchner too. Ziva and Declan leaned back against the trunk of the tree, both breathing hard. For right now they were safe.

"Mossad, huh?" Declan asked once his breathing returned to normal.

Ziva nodded. "My dad taught me too."

"He was a Mossad then?"

"Yes. Very much so. Who is your father?"

"Was."

"What?"

"He's dead."

"Ah… I'm sorry to hear that."

Declan shrugged. "I barely knew him."

"You did not get along?"

"I didn't say that."

Ziva tilted her head to the side, really looking at her strange and secretive young partner for the first time. There was a story here, and she wanted to know what it was.

Declan caught her staring. "Look, he wasn't a great guy, okay? He'd never qualify for dad of the year."

"Okay." She laughed dryly a second later as she considered what her father had done in his lifetime. "He can't be that bad."

Declan glared at her. "He killed people. Is that bad enough for you?"

Ziva turned her face to him, eyes wide. "You are not kidding?"

He looked at her askance. "Why would I kid around about something like that?"

Ziva shrugged. "That is true. My father has done the same thing."

It was his turn to look surprised. "No joke?"

"I thought we agreed it was not to be joked about."

"So your dad is Mossad and mine is a serial killer. Nice pair we are."

"We do work well together." Ziva pointed out. "Speaking of which…" She nodded down towards the ground.

Agent Jareau moved stealthily along, and she was watching the treetops. She was looking for them. Ziva motioned towards her, willing to let Declan take the kill shot. He aimed and fired. The paintball landed straight over her heart.

Agent Jareau groaned loudly – very loudly. Now Ziva and Declan would have to move again. Why did people have to be so loud when they took a kill shot?


	4. Chapter 4

Again, Tony came running towards the noise. He was without Agent Morgan though, so one could only assume that the other man had been ousted. Especially since Tony had two spots of paint on his vest.

Declan copied her earlier move, silently asking her if she wanted to take the kill shot. She eagerly took aim, but Tony had gotten smart. He dove behind the base of a tree, out of her line of sight. So she waited. Eventually he peered around the edge of the trunk, and she shot him in the forehead. He was out, and with a rather loud explosion of discomfiture he stalked off.

There was a noise in the brush down and to the left, but before she could respond to it, Declan shot into the bush. The feminine yelp that accompanied it meant that they had found Agent Prentiss.

Suddenly paintballs went flying.

One into Agent Prentiss' cover and she was out, since she had apparently already been shot once before. Four more whizzed into the tree where Ziva and Declan were situated and Ziva came to the sickening realization that Gibbs and Agent Hotchner had found them. Two of the paintballs hit Ziva, one hit the tree, and the fourth hit Declan.

They took off, swinging across the trees.

"They're both shooting at us, right?" Declan asked as they went.

"Of course they are!" Ziva snapped, looking desperately in the direction some of the paintballs had come from.

"Agent Gibbs can sniper shoot. Hotch can't. They had to have split up and he has to be closer to us then Agent Gibbs. What if I keep going and you stop and shoot Hotch as he comes out to get closer to us?"

It wasn't a good plan exactly. It was a plan that was fine for even Agent Morgan and Tony, but the idea of being a sitting duck for Gibbs rubbed her the wrong way. It was a plan though.

"What if I kept going and you stayed? If I get shot again, I'm out." Ziva countered.

"You're a better shot." Declan answered back.

"Fine." She dropped her grip on the next tree branch as her young partner hurried on.

She waited less than five seconds before Agent Hotchner came crashing through the underbrush. As soon as she saw him, she fired five times at his chest. Somehow three made their mark before he started running. She didn't stick around though. Gibbs would be after her now more than ever and she had no proof that she wasn't in his line of fire.

Gibbs. How in the world were they supposed to hit him? He could fire at double the range she and Declan could. And Declan knew better than to stop, so she was officially on her own. Maybe though, she could sneak up behind him as he trailed Declan. That looked like her only chance at the moment.

She thought of Gibbs' earlier words, "a friendly game of paintball, nothing more", and a smirk came to her lips. Yeah right.

Suddenly she heard an explosion of shooting to her right. She veered in that direction, increasing her speed as much as she could. She got to the scene of the battle in time to see Gibbs and Declan both take a shot from the other.

Gibbs had switched from a long-range gun to a short-range one and had Declan practically cornered in a tree. Well, that simply would not do.

Ziva swung her gun from of her back as silently as possible, took aim, and emptied her supply on his back.


	5. Chapter 5

Gibbs froze, lowered his gun, and when he took off his mask, Ziva could see a slow smirk easing its way onto his features. Declan dropped to the ground to stand in front of Gibbs and took off his own mask at the same time Ziva did behind Gibbs. She walked over to stand beside him.

"You knew he could shoot." Ziva wasn't sure why it came out as an accusation.

"Yes, I did." He answered, turning his back to them as he started walking towards the tree line. Having no other choice if they wanted to continue talking to him, Ziva and Declan followed him. "Did you have a nice talk?" Gibbs asked pleasantly.

"Yeah, sure." Declan's answer was quick and rushed, and Ziva concluded from the pleading look he gave her just then that he didn't want her to repeat what he had revealed to her earlier.

She nodded to assure him that she understood.

As she watched, Declan ran up to Gibbs and began asking him questions about guns and his techniques and other things.

And that's when it hit her, what got to her about this boy. The walls he put up around himself when he talked about his father, those were the same as the walls she put up in her relationship with hers. The way he had handled the gun, and the entire situation, mirrored someone who had been trained for similar scenarios – like she had.

She cocked her head again, staring at the blonde curls on the back of the boy's head. His walls matched hers, and she could see in him a rather distorted mirror image of herself.

Huh. She smiled. He was an okay kid after all.


End file.
